‘Holiday by the Bay’ returning to Ludovici Park on Dec. 22

Pictured are people attending last year’s event in front of the park amphitheater.

The Village of Palmetto Bay’s popular seasonal event, “Holiday by the Bay,” which last year attracted 2,000 attendees, returns to Ludovici Park on Dec. 22.

Mary Fernandez, village special events coordinator, said she is pleased they are able to host the family-oriented celebration there again.

“This is our third annual event and it’s always been at Ludovici, which is a great place to do it,” Fernandez said. “The amphitheater just lends itself to the whole thing, the decoration and the kids caroling under it. It really is a nice venue.”

Running from 4 to 8 p.m. at Ludovici Park, 17641 Old Cutler Rd., the event offers festive holiday music provided by area schools, carnival rides and games, special crafts activities and lots of fun foods. Admission is free, as are the carnival attractions.

“We’re sticking with what works, which are the mechanical rides, and those are free to everybody,” Fernandez said. “We’ll have the balloon trailers where kids can win penny prizes, we’ll definitely have that again. We’ve extended invitations to all the schools who want to participate and bring their kids out to perform. We reach out to all of the different elementary, middle and high schools. Perrine Elementary has already committed, so they will be bringing out their chorus and doing Christmas carols.”

Vendors will have a variety of foods for sale as well as artwork and trinkets for those who might want to do a little last minute shopping. Santa will be making an appearance, too, as in years past.

“Kids will have the opportunity to line up and take pictures with him and purchase prints of those,” Fernandez said. “We also do letters to the North Pole. The kids can write a letter and put it in our mailbox and we make sure that we mail it out to the North Pole.”

Another returning tradition — there will be tables with craft supplies that the village furnishes so that youngsters can make Christmas ornaments to take home. Members of area Girl Scouts troops will be there to help the kids out with that and get the parents involved as well.

“Hopefully we’re creating a tradition where our park-goers come every year and create a different ornament,” Fernandez said. “The village purchases the supplies to make the ornaments, but it depends on who our sponsors are.”

There will be plenty of free parking in the library parking lot and in the adjacent lot of the Palmetto Bay Village Center.

“We are still reaching out to vendors and sponsors that may have something that will fit the event,” Fernandez added. “Any that are interested should contact us soon by calling Village Hall or by visiting our website for more information.”